"I tell him I tried. I tried to keep memory alive; I tried to fight those who would forget. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. There is so much injustice & suffering crying out for our attention. We must take sides. We must interfere. -E.W.

Video Coming… I Hope.

I believe I am on the threshold of being able to post video to this blog. It’s a bit convoluted, but the outcome is the same. Being frugal (or, as my wife calls me, a cheap Scrooge), I’ll need to video, upload to youtube.com, then link my post to it. The alternative is to pay a yearly fee for video services on WordPress, which I have no intention of doing.

Okay. Now that I have that process figured out, what next? I can do it, but what in the world do I want to post? And, can I be entertaining enough to warrant the effort? Maybe I’ll start with something mundane, like transferring Ryan from his chair to the exercise mat. Who knows? Perhaps something that is tough to watch, like deep suctioning.

Speaking of deep suctioning, I’m afraid to say that this will likely be in Ryan’s care today. He had an irritable night. His pulse was up (around 105), his temperature was up (around 100 degrees), and his oxygen saturation was low. He dipped into the high 80’s on a few occasions, then rebounded back into the mid-90’s. My instincts tell me he has a “mucus plug” somewhere in his respiratory system. If he can’t cough it out, then I’ll need to go get it.

The whole-house humidifier is doing a wonderful job. We are at a slightly balmy 50% with the house temperature at 75 degrees. It’s like having summer in my house! I briefly considered covering the floors with sand, but envisioned the cat (“Maddux”, named after Atlanta Brave’s pitching great Greg Maddux) thinking he went to litter box heaven. Oh, and women in swimsuits are always welcome. Do you want a lime with that Corona?

Ken, this is fantastic, people are going to learn so much about what it takes to care for Ryan on a daily basis. I admire you for doing this. I’m glad you have such a technical side in addition to all your other skills (is there anything you can’t do??). Going on YouTube is going to radically enlarge your fan base here at Diviney central. I know there are so many people out there who will be very inspired and moved by Ryan’s story. There are still quite a few people right here in our local community who don’t know what happened. The Declutter for Divineys event is going to be a great way for more people to hear about Ryan. There are so many things needed — and it is going to take all the caring and help out there to make it happen. So bring on the videos, Ken!! Next thing you know, fans are going to be requesting still shots of Duke in all his wonder. Praying for you, Sue, Ryan and Kari today. I don’t want Ryan to have a fever, Lord, please make it go away, and help Ryan and Ken to have a good day together. Love & prayers always…Paula

Sending over bags of sand, shells, a sunlamp and beach towels! I love the beach idea! Other items welcomed, I’m sure — I’ll have a Margarita, thank you, too early for me for Corona —
On a more serious note, speaking for myself, you take the videos, I will watch them. It does not matter what you want to video, I will watch. I think I speak for most of us that we want to know EVERYTHING RYAN! Still here.

Dear Ken ,I think it would be very enlightening to us to see some things you go through with Ryan. .Hope he can cough hard enough to get rid of mucus and his fever and HR and oxygen level are normal again….Glad humidifier works so well …..Praying Sue got home alright and hope all get some rest ….Sure,lime is fine 🙂 Praying the day goes well. ~. Gail

Hope Ryan’s temp and pulse get under control, and that you don’t have to suction today….

Meanwhile, I’m not a huge Corona (or beer) fan for that matter so I’ll go with a strawberry daiquiri 🙂 Kinda makes me feel a Kenny Chesney song coming on…..Sue told me how much Ryan likes Kenny….how about these beach lyrics?

Man, I could use a Piña Colada
Little bit of sun on my skin
A hammock, a book
Never gonna look back
Once my feet hit the sand
I’ve had it up to here with this rat race
Need a smile on my face

I wanna go where I can lighten up the load
Drive a little while on the wrong side of the road
Get this laying low off to a flying start
Play my guitar in the Caribbean sun
Hang with the locals at the Quiet Mon
Where you can be a tourist, a beach bum, or a star
And be as you are

It’s 5:00, I’ll take anything. I hope your day went well and that the suctioning or preferably coughing was successful. I am so impressed with your ability to figure out how to video and share it with all of us. I am looking forward to seeing more of Ryan and I have to admit, maybe sneeking a peek at Duke.